Thursday, February 12, 2009

Entertainment's Guilty of Being Overrated List


Clint Eastwood: The man famous for playing Dirty Harry didn't receive real critical acclaim until the age of sixty two. With a permanent look of trying to see something down the road, and a raspy whisper that leaves you struggling to hear his lines, the American Cinema Icon's acting leaves much to be desired. Sure he might direct some good movies, but his big hits aren't directorial achievements. He mostly gets a good script, sits back and lets everyone else do their job. You could argue every director is guilty of this, but the same is not true for the master filmmakers people often mention in the same breath as Clint. You feel every bit of Stephen Spielberg, Martin Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino's influence in their movies. The only constant in Eastwood films is the drowsy score that sounds like he stood at a piano and played one key at a slow methodical pace.



Jeff Dunham: Talking without opening your mouth is a nice talent just to have, but when you spend ten years practicing it, you sort of become an asshole. Even if you can look past the shameless gimmick, his jokes are cheap and shallow. Even the Middle Eastern puppet comes off as racist instead of edgy. The saddest part of Dunham is that he has a huge fan base. To think he describes himself as a "comedian" is the most liberal use of the word since Gallagher.




Entourage: Did you ever see the episode where Vince didn't want to do a movie E thought he should, Turtle and Drama fought over some non-issue and Ari had a panic attack over a studio battle? If you saw that one you pretty much get the point of the last three seasons. Through no fault of the actors, especially Kevin Dillon who has really brought a new level to Johnny Drama, the show feels like a procedural situation comedy. When Entourage debuted it was hip and everyone felt like they were part of the "in crowd." Now they have no direction, the writers are struggling to keep the characters busy. The short season, A-list guests and young viewers idolizing the Hollywood lifestyle have kept this struggling series a cornerstone of HBO's lineup.




Tyler Perry: This guy pumps out movie after movie and t.v. show after t.v. show with relative ease. The only problem is, he combines part Flip Wilson, part Eddie Murphy and part Mama's Family to make a mediocre at best franchise that finds success in its' simplicity. I'm not sure of why Perry himself has to play Medea since none of the jokes are about how much she looks like young man, but he is wildly popular and heavily compensated. When comedies like Arrest Development and Freak and Geeks can't stay on the air, but Tyler Perry has two hit comedies and a string of hit movies, you can't fault the guy for making the most out of producing the least.




Stephenie Meyer: With a quartet of successful vampire/romance books under her belt, the young author has been surprisingly smug regarding future endeavors. Considering her narrative flow sounds like a sixth grade book report, her best response to her fame would be to say she will continue to write for her fans. It is especially hard to remain in the spotlight as an author, but suddenly she's too famous? From the looks of her personal interviews, Meyer looks more righteous than humble. All her fans want her to do is write more books, so how much favor would she win by abandoning what bought her to the dance to begin with. The stories are compelling for a wide audience, but she should stop pretending shes J.K. Rowling.


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